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To Star, again
 Contents
Preface

1 Introduction to Masonry

2 Brick, Concrete Masonry Units, and Stone

2.1 Brick
2.1.1 Types of Brick
2.1.2 Brick Sizes and Shapes
2.1.3 Brick Colors and Textures
2.1.4 Brick Absorption
2.2 Concrete Masonry Units
2.2.1 Types of CMUs
2.2.2 CMU Colors and Textures
2.2.3 CMU Coring
2.2.4 CMU Grading and Moisture Content
2.2.5 CMU Sizes and Shapes
2.2.6 CMU Strength
2.2.7 CMU Absorption
2.3 Natural Stone
2.3.1 Granite
2.3.2 Limestone
2.3.3 Marble
2.3.4 Sandstone
2.3.5 Selecting Stone
2.4 Cast Stone
2.5 Adhered Manufactured Stone Masonry Veneer
2.6 Glass Block

3 Mortar and Grout

 3.1 Mortar Ingredients
3.1.1 Cementitious Materials
3.1.2 Sand
3.1.3 Mortar Admixtures
3.1.4 Coloring Pigments
3.2 Mortar Properties
3.2.1 Workability
3.2.2 Water Retention
3.2.3 Bond Strength
3.2.4 Compressive Strength
3.3 Three Kinds of Mortar
3.3.1 Cement-Lime Mortars
3.3.2 Masonry Cement Mortars
3.3.3 Mortar Cement Mortars
3.3.4 Choosing Cement-Lime or Masonry Cement Mortar
3.4 Mortar Types
3.4.1 Type M Mortar
3.4.2 Type S Mortar
3.4.3 Type N Mortar
3.4.4 Type O Mortar
3.4.5 Type K Mortar
3.4.6 Choosing the Right Mortar Type
3.4.7 Proportion Versus Property Method of Specifying
Mortar
3.5 Masonry Grout
3.5.1 Grout Materials
3.5.2 Grout Admixtures
3.5.3 Grout Properties
3.5.4 Grout Types and Proportions
3.5.5 Self-Consolidating Grout

4 Masonry Accessories
 4.1 Metals and Corrosion
4.2 Joint Reinforcement
4.3 Connectors
4.3.1 Ties
4.3.2 Anchors
4.4 Reinforcing Bars and Bar Positioners
4.5 Flashing Materials
4.6 Weeps
4.7 Drainage Accessories
4.8 Flashing and Drainage Systems

5 Masonry Properties
5.1 Durability and Freeze-Thaw Resistance
5.2 Fire-Resistance Characteristics
5.2.1 Fire-Resistance Ratings
5.2.2 UL Ratings
5.2.3 Steel Fireproofing
5.2.4 Compartmentation
5.3 Thermal Properties
5.3.1 Heat Capacity
5.3.2 Added Insulation
5.3.3 Granular Fills
5.3.4 Rigid Board Insulation and Insulation Inserts
5.3.5 Insulation Location
5.4 Vapor and Air Resistance
5.5 Acoustical Properties
5.5.1 Acoustical Characteristics of Masonry
5.5.2 Sound Absorption
5.5.3 Sound Transmission
5.5.4 STC Ratings
5.6 Green Buildings
 5.6.1 Resource Management, Recycled Content, and
Embodied Energy
5.6.2 Construction Site Operations
5.6.3 Indoor Air Quality and Building Ecology
5.6.4 Masonry and LEED
5.7 Masonry Costs
5.7.1 Factors Affecting Cost
5.7.2 Value Engineering

6 Expansion and Contraction

6.1 Movement Characteristics
6.1.1 Brick Expansion and Contraction
6.1.2 Concrete Masonry Expansion and Contraction
6.1.3 Differential Movement
6.2 Flexible Anchorage
6.3 Movement Joints
6.3.1 Joint Design
6.3.2 Joint Locations
6.3.3 Accommodating Movement Joints in Design

7 Moisture and Air Management

7.1 Definitions
7.2 Moisture Management
7.3 Deflection: Limit Rain Penetration
7.3.1 Wall System Concepts
7.3.2 Masonry Wall Types
7.3.3 Masonry Units and Mortar
7.3.4 Parapets
7.3.5 Coatings and Water Repellents
7.4 Drainage: Prevent Moisture Accumulation
7.4.1 Flashing
7.4.2 Flashing Locations
7.4.3 Weeps
 7.5 Drying: Evaporation and Venting
7.6 Controlling Air and Vapor Movement
7.6.1 Water-Resistive Barriers
7.6.2 Vapor Retarders
7.6.3 Air Barriers

8 Single-Wythe Wall Details

8.1 Single-Wythe Concrete Masonry Unit Walls
8.2 Insulation
8.3 Interior Finishes
8.4 Water Penetration Resistance
8.5 Parapet Details
8.6 Roof-to-Wall Details
8.7 Window Head Details
8.8 Window Sill Details
8.9 Base Flashing Details
8.10 Miscellaneous Details

9 Multi-Wythe Wall Details

9.1 Multi-Wythe Walls
9.1.1 Composite Walls
9.1.2 Cavity Walls
9.2 Insulation
9.3 Interior Finishes
9.4 Water Penetration Resistance
9.5 Parapet Details
9.6 Roof-to-Wall Details
9.7 Shelf Angle Details
9.8 Window Details
9.9 Base Flashing Details
9.10 Miscellaneous Details

10 Anchored Veneer Details

 10.1 Brick and Concrete Masonry Unit Veneer
10.2 Insulation
10.3 Water Penetration Resistance
10.4 Parapet Details
10.5 Roof-to-Wall Details
10.6 Shelf Angle Details
10.7 Window Details
10.8 Base Flashing Details

11 Adhered Veneer Details

11.1 Adhered Masonry Veneer
11.2 Thin Brick Veneer
11.3 Adhered Manufactured Stone Masonry Veneer (AMSMV)
11.4 Installation Methods
11.5 Water Penetration Resistance
11.6 Parapet Details
11.7 Roof-to-Wall Details
11.8 Window Details
11.9 Wall Base Details
11.10 Miscellaneous Details

12 Special Wall Types

12.1 Interior Partitions
12.2 Screen Walls and Fences
12.3 Glass Block Panels

13 Lintels and Arches

13.1 Lintels
13.1.1 Determining Loads
13.1.2 Steel Lintels
13.1.3 Concrete and Concrete Masonry Lintels
13.1.4 Reinforced Brick Lintels
13.2 Arches
 13.2.1 Minor Arch Design
13.2.2 Graphic Analysis

14 Structural Masonry
14.1 Masonry Structures
14.1.1 Differential Movement
14.1.2 Load Distribution
14.1.3 Beams and Girders
14.1.4 Connections
14.2 Empirical Design
14.3 Analytical Design
14.3.1 Unreinforced Masonry
14.3.2 Reinforced Masonry
14.3.3 Wind and Seismic Loads

15 Installation and Workmanship

15.1 Moisture Resistance
15.2 Preparation of Materials
15.2.1 Material Storage and Protection
15.2.2 Mortar and Grout
15.2.3 Masonry Units
15.2.4 Accessories
15.2.5 Layout and Coursing
15.3 Installation
15.3.1 Mortar and Unit Placement
15.3.2 Flashing and Weep Holes
15.3.3 Control and Expansion Joints
15.3.4 Accessories and Reinforcement
15.3.5 Grouting
15.4 Construction Tolerances
15.4.1 Masonry Size Tolerances
15.4.2 Mortar Joints
 15.4.3 Wall Cavity Width Variations
15.4.4 Grout and Reinforcement
15.5 Cold Weather Construction
15.6 Hot Weather Construction
15.7 Moist Curing

16 Specifications
16.1 Specification Guidelines
16.1.1 Mortar and Grout
16.1.2 Masonry Accessories
16.1.3 Masonry Units
16.1.4 Construction
16.1.5 Quality Control Tests
16.1.6 Sample Panels and Mock-Ups
16.2 Specifying with the MSJC Code
16.2.1 General
16.2.2 Products
16.2.3 Execution

17 Quality Assurance and Quality Control

17.1 Standard of Quality
17.2 Quality Assurance/Quality Control in Masonry
17.2.1 Industry Standards for Masonry
17.2.2 Standards for Clay Masonry Units
17.2.3 Standards for Concrete Masonry Units
17.2.4 Standards for Masonry Mortar and Grout
17.2.5 Standards for Masonry Accessories
17.2.6 Standards for Laboratory and Field Testing
17.3 Masonry Submittals
17.3.1 Specifying Submittals
17.3.2 Submittal Procedures
17.3.3 Shop Drawings
 17.3.4 Product Data
17.3.5 Samples
17.3.6 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Submittals
17.3.7 Closeout Submittals
17.4 Sample Panels and Mock-Ups
17.4.1 Sample Panel
17.4.2 Mock-Up
17.4.3 Grout Demonstration Panel
17.5 Field Observation and Inspection
17.5.1 Materials
17.5.2 Construction
17.5.3 Workmanship
17.5.4 Protection and Cleaning
17.5.5 Moisture Drainage

18 Forensic Investigations
18.1 Water Leakage
18.1.1 Diagnostic Water Testing
18.1.2 Types of Water Tests
18.2 Structural Performance
18.3 Cracking

A Glossary

B ASTM Reference Standards

Clay Masonry Units
Cementitious Masonry Units
Adhered Manufactured Stone Masonry Veneer
Natural Stone
Mortar and Grout
Reinforcement and Accessories
Sampling and Testing
Assemblages
Bibliography

Index
 Preface

T
his edition of Masonry Design and Detailing has been
condensed to focus primarily on brick and concrete block
masonry. Some of the less commonly used masonry materials
such as adobe, terra cotta, and structural clay tile have been
deleted, and a new section on adhered manufactured stone
masonry veneer has been added.
I have also deleted some of the lesser used information on
materials and manufacturing, fireplaces, retaining walls, and
masonry paving. This effort has been toward making the book more
concise in its coverage of the most popular and widely used
masonry systems. A good deal of additional material has been
added about water penetration resistance, and the chapters have
been reorganized in what I hope will be a more accessible format.
The book is also available in electronic format, which provides the
advantage of key word searches to locate information quickly.

CHRISTINE BEALL, NCARB, CCS

Austin, Texas
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Masonry

T
he unwritten record of history is preserved in buildings. The
stone and brick of skeletal architectural remains date back long
before the beginning of recorded history. Every country in the
world has ancient or historic structures that survived because they
were built of masonry. Masonry buildings are extremely durable to
weathering and not easily damaged by physical forces.
Contemporary reinforced masonry also resists the extremes of
hurricane and seismic forces.
Stone is the oldest, most abundant, and perhaps the most
important raw building material, and brick is the oldest man-made
building product. Masonry construction today includes not only
quarried stone and clay brick but also a host of other materials.
Concrete block, cast stone, structural clay tile, terra cotta, glass
block, adobe, and manufactured stone are also part of masonry’s
color and texture palette. Masonry can be designed as rustic,
formal, residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, monumental,
and even palatial. Masonry remains popular with both consumers
and designers not only because of its durability but also because of
its beauty and variety.
Moisture resistance is one of the primary concerns in building
design and construction. Preventing water intrusion into buildings is
a primary focus, but so is preventing damage to the materials of the
building envelope itself.
Contemporary masonry walls are more water permeable than
traditional masonry walls because of their relative thinness.
Contemporary masonry is also more brittle because of the portland
cement that is now used in masonry mortar. As is the case with any
material or system used to form the building envelope, the
movement of moisture into and through the envelope has a
significant effect on the performance of masonry walls.
Contemporary masonry systems are designed not with the intent of
providing a barrier to water penetration but rather as drainage walls
in which penetrated moisture is collected on flashing membranes
and drained through a series of weep holes.
Materials, design, and workmanship are all important to the
performance of masonry in resisting water penetration and moisture
damage. The successful weather resistance of masonry walls
depends on several basic requirements:
• Mortar joints must be full.
• Mortar must be compatible with and well bonded to the
masonry units or stone.
• An appropriate flashing material must be selected for the
expected service life of the building.
• Flashing details must be properly designed and installed at all
necessary locations.
• Weep holes must be properly sized and spaced.
• Weep holes must be unobstructed and must provide effective
drainage.
With adequate provision for moisture drainage, masonry wall
systems provide long-term performance with little required
maintenance. The chapters that follow describe materials, design,
and workmanship with an eye toward achieving durability and
weather resistance as well as adequate structural performance in
masonry systems.
 CHAPTER 2
Brick, Concrete Masonry
Units, and Stone

T
here are many different types of masonry materials, but the
most widely used in the United States are brick, concrete
block, and stone. Each has its own aesthetic, economic, and
performance characteristics that make it appropriate or desirable for
any given project. Despite their many attributes, masonry materials
are generally chosen because designers and building owners like the
way they look.

2.1 Brick
Although concrete brick, sand-lime brick, and adobe brick can be of
the same approximate size and shape as clay brick, it is usually clay
brick that comes to mind for most people when we use the term
brick. The variety of types, textures, and colors available give brick a
wide range of style and appearance options from which architects,
developers, and building owners may choose. Brick dates back to
before recorded history and carries with it a sense of quality,
durability, and permanence that appeals on many levels.

2.1.1 Types of Brick

ASTM standards prescribe minimum physical properties for building
brick, facing brick, hollow brick, glazed brick, paving brick, and
others. The most widely used is facing brick, or face brick, which it is
commonly called. The requirements of ASTM C216, Standard
Specification for Facing Brick, are related primarily to strength,
durability, and resistance to weathering. The minimum compressive
strength values listed in Fig. 2-1 are substantially exceeded by most
manufacturers. For standard-run extruded brick, average strengths
for U.S.-made brick range from 4500 to 8000 psi.

FIGURE 2-1 ASTM physical requirements for brick. (Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr
Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. Reprinted with permission.)

Where the ASTM C216 Weathering index is greater than 50,

Grade SW (severe weathering) is recommended for all applications.
Grade MW (moderate weathering) may be used only in areas where
the Weathering Index is less than 50. Grade NW (no weathering) is
permitted only for interior work where there will be no weather
exposure. The Weathering Index for almost all of the United States
is above 50, so for all intents and purposes, Grade SW is used
almost universally.
Face brick is typically selected for specific aesthetic criteria such
as color, dimensional tolerances, uniformity, surface texture, and
limits on the amount of cracks and defects that are permitted. Within
each of the three weathering grades (SW, MW, and NW), face brick
can be produced in three specific appearance types. Most of the
brick used in commercial buildings in the United States is Type FBS
(standard). Type FBX (select) is for applications such as stack bond
patterns where a crisp, linear effect and minimum size variation are
desired. Type FBA (architectural) is manufactured with characteristic
effects, such as distinctive irregularities in the individual units to
simulate historic or hand-made brick (see Figs. 2-2 and 2-3).
Extruded brick can be produced in any of the three types by
progressively increasing the amount of texturing and roughening
applied to the units. Types FBS, FBX, and FBA all meet the same
physical requirements for strength and durability. Brick color and
texture are not covered in ASTM C216. Specific colors, color blends,
and textures must be selected or specified for individual projects
based on local or regional availability.

FIGURE 2-2 Brick appearance Types.

§
Lot size as determined by agreement between purchaser and seller. If not specified,
lot size is understood to mean all brick of one size and color in the job order.
 †
Type FBS Smooth units have relatively fine texture and smooth edges, including wire
cut surfaces.
‡
Type FBS Rough units have textured, rounded, or tumbled edges or faces.

FIGURE 2-3 Brick size tolerances. (Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive,
West Conshohocken, PA 19428. Reprinted with permission.)

Glazed brick is fired with ceramic coatings that fuse to the clay
body in the kiln and produce an impervious surface in clear or color,
matte or gloss finish. Most glazed brick is fired at high temperatures
in a single operation while firing the brick body itself. These are
covered by ASTM C1405, Standard Specification for Glazed Brick
(Single Fired, Solid Brick Units). Some color glazes such as bright
reds, yellows, and oranges must be fired at lower temperatures,
which require a two-stage process. First, the brick is fired at normal
kiln temperatures, then the glaze is applied and the units are fired
again at a lower temperature. This double-fired process significantly
increases the cost of the brick and usually limits such colors to
accents and specialty applications. Some low-fired glazes are prone
to crazing because they are not as hard as high-fired glazes.
Standards for double-fired glazed brick are covered in ASTM C126,
Standard Specification for Ceramic Glazed Structural Clay Facing
Tile, Facing Brick, and Solid Masonry Units. Durability and weather
resistance are not covered, so for exterior use, the body of the brick
should be specified to conform to the requirements for ASTM C216
face brick, Grade SW, Type FBX, with the glaze in accordance with
ASTM C126 standards.
Requirements for both ASTM C1405 and C126 glazed brick
include unit strength and durability as well as properties of the glaze
itself. Units are defined as Grade S (select) and Grade SS (select-
sized, or ground edge), where a high degree of mechanical
perfection, narrow color range, and minimum variation in size are
required. Units may be either Type I, single-faced, or Type II,
double-faced (opposite faces glazed). Type II units are generally
special-order items and are not widely used. For weathering, units
are designated as Exterior Class or Interior Class. Glazed brick may
suffer severe freeze-thaw damage in cold climates if not adequately
protected from moisture permeation. Glazed brick is not
recommended for copings or other horizontal surfaces in any
climate. Glazed brick is commonly available in several sizes and in
stretchers, jambs, corners, sills, and other supplementary shapes
(see Fig. 2-4).

FIGURE 2-4 Glazed brick Types, Grades, and Classes.

Thin brick is similar to face brick except that it is only ½- to 1-in.

thick. Thin bricks are made from fired clay or shale and are used as
adhered veneer for both interior and exterior applications. There are
also thin “brick” veneer units that are cast from a cementitious mix
and made to look like clay brick (see Section 2.5), but they are very
different products.
Standards for thin brick material properties and characteristics are
covered in ASTM C1088, Thin Veneer Brick Units Made From Clay
or Shale. The standard covers two weathering or exposure grades
designated as Exterior and Interior. Three appearance types—TBS,
TBX, and TBA—are the equivalent of the face brick types discussed
earlier. Thin brick is ideal for interior applications and for cladding or
recladding the exteriors of buildings that do not have a supporting
brick ledge. Thin brick can also be laid in concrete forms and cast as
part of a precast element or tilt-up concrete wall or made into wall
panels. Building codes set the maximum allowable weight for
exterior, adhered masonry veneer at 15 lb/ft2. The thickness of
adhered masonry veneers must be between ¼ and 2-5/8 in., with a
maximum dimension of 36 in. for either direction and a maximum
face area of 5 sq ft.

2.1.2 Brick Sizes and Shapes

Face brick is available in widths or bed depths ranging from 3 to 12
in., heights from 2 to 8 in., and lengths of up to 16 in. Production
includes both nonmodular and modular sizes conforming to the 4-in.
grid system of structural and material coordination. Some typical
units are illustrated in Figs. 2-5 and 2-6, which list several of the
modular sizes, their recommended joint thicknesses, and coursing
heights. Nominal dimensions include the actual size of the unit plus
the thickness of mortar joint with which the unit was designed to be
used. Face brick is laid with a 3/8- or ½-in. joint, and glazed brick is
laid with a ¼-in. joint.
FIGURE 2-5 Examples of modular brick sizes.
FIGURE 2-6 Modular brick size and coursing table.

Brick core designs vary with the manufacturer. Coring is designed,

among other things, to ease forming and handling and to improve
grip and mortar bond. Cored brick is considered “solid brick” as
defined by ASTM only if the voids do not exceed 25% of the area in
the bearing plane (see Fig. 2-7). Most contemporary masonry units
are designed to a 4-in. module to connect at 8- or 16-in. course
heights. For example, two courses of concrete block with mortar
joints is 16 in. vertically, which is the same height as three, five, or
six courses of various size brick. This permits horizontal mechanical
connection between the facing and backup wythes of a multi-wythe
wall at the same vertical intervals.
FIGURE 2-7 Solid brick and hollow brick.

In addition to the rectangular cut, brick is available in many special

shapes for specific job requirements. Some of the more common
shapes include square and hexagonal pavers, bullnose and stair
tread units, caps, sills, special corner brick, and wedges for arch
construction (see Fig. 2-8). The color of special-shape bricks may
not exactly match the standard units of the same color because the
special-shape bricks are typically fired in a different run. The
variations are usually minor but can be particularly noticeable at
building corners and other vertical elements. Color variations in
horizontal courses of special units blend into a wall better or, at
worst, create a banding effect.
FIGURE 2-8 Job-cut and special manufactured brick shapes.

The lipped lintel brick shown in Fig. 2-8 is made for use at window
and door lintels to hide the front edge of the steel angle. When used
at window or door lintels, lipped brick will not align with the mortar
bed joints to either side. Lintel brick is sometimes also used at shelf
angles, but detailing, coursing, and installation can be challenging,
especially at corners. Only manufactured lip brick should be used.
Field-cut brick is more prone to breakage because of overcutting.
The most unusual examples of customized masonry are
sculptured pieces handcrafted from the green clayware before firing.
The unburned units are firm enough to allow the artist to work freely
without damage to the brick body, but sufficiently soft for carving,
scraping, and cutting. After execution of the design, the units are
returned to the plant for firing, and the relief is permanently set in
the brick face (see Fig. 2-9).
FIGURE 2-9 Sculptured brick is carved by the artist before the brick is fired. (Photo courtesy
BIA.)

ASTM C652 covers hollow brick with core areas between 25 and
40% (Class H40V) and between 40 and 60% (Class H60V) of the
gross cross-sectional area in the bearing plane (see Fig. 2-10). The
two grades listed correspond to the same measure of durability as
that used for building brick and face brick: Grade SW and Grade
MW. The requirements for appearance Types HBX (select), HBS
(standard), and HBA (architectural) are identical to those for face
brick Types FBX, FBS, and FBA. Another fourth hollow brick type,
HBB, is for general use in walls and partitions where color and
texture are not a consideration and greater variation in size is
permissible. Typical hollow brick sizes range from 4 × 2¼ × 12 in. to
8 × 4 × 16 in.
FIGURE 2-10 ASTM C652 hollow brick. (Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor
Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. Reprinted with permission.)

2.1.3 Brick Colors and Textures

Brick is available in a wide variety of colors depending on the clay or
shale that is available in a given area. Natural colors can be altered
or augmented by the introduction of various minerals in the mix and
further enhanced by application of a clear, lustrous glaze. Ceramic
glazed finishes range from bright primary colors to more subtle earth
tones in solid, mottled, or blended shades. Glossy, matte, and satin
finishes, as well as applied textures, add other aesthetic options.

2.1.4 Brick Absorption

The absorption of brick is defined as the weight of water taken up by
the unit under given laboratory test conditions and is expressed as a
percentage of the dry weight of the unit. Because highly absorptive
brick exposed to weathering can retain a large quantity of moisture
in a wall, ASTM standards limit face brick absorption to 17% for
Grade SW and 22% for Grade MW units. Most bricks produced in
the United States have absorption rates of only 4 to 10%. The
durability of brick usually refers to its ability to withstand freezing in
the presence of moisture, as this is the most severe test to which it
is subjected. Compressive strength and absorption are indicators of
freeze-thaw resistance, as a value cannot be assigned specifically
for durability.
 The suction, or initial rate of absorption (IRA), of brick affects the
strength and intimacy of bond between units and mortar as well as
the watertightness of the joints. Strong, water-resistant brick walls
can be constructed with brick of any IRA if the brick is paired with
the appropriate mortar or wetted prior to being laid. Optimum bond
and minimum water penetration are achieved with ordinary handling
and construction practices if the bricks have an IRA between 5 and
25 g·min−1 · 30 sq in.−1 (the approximate area of the bed surface of a
modular brick) at the time they are laid (see Fig. 2-11). If high-
suction brick absorbs excessive water from the mortar too quickly, it
can retard cement hydration, weaken the bond, and result in water-
permeable joints. Low-suction brick may not absorb enough cement
paste from the mortar to form a good bond. ASTM standards do not
specify IRA limits, but the IRA of a given brick is helpful in deciding
which mortar to use or if the brick should be wetted before use. IRA
information can be obtained from the brick manufacturer.

FIGURE 2-11 Relationship between bond strength and initial rate of absorption (IRA). (From T.
Ritchie and J. Davison, Cement-Lime Mortars, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, 1964.)

High-suction brick with an IRA greater than 30 g·min−1-30·sq in.−1

should be thoroughly wetted but surface dry before the units are
laid. Wetting can be done with an ordinary water hose and should
take place a minimum of 3 hours but preferably 24 hours before
use. If wetting the brick is impractical, the units should be laid with a
mortar having high water retention (i.e., higher proportion of lime
such as ASTM C270, Mortar for Unit Masonry, Type N or even Type
O). Bricks with a low IRA should be covered at the job site to
prevent wetting and used with a mortar with lower water retention
(i.e., lower proportion of lime such as ASTM C270 Type S). Mortar
for use with low-suction brick should be mixed with the minimum
amount of water that will provide good workability.
Both high- and low-IRA brick can be accommodated by choosing a
compatible mortar mix and by either wetting or protecting the brick
as appropriate to its suction properties. The optimum range of IRA
should be included in project specifications with allowance for wetting
the brick or adjusting the mortar proportions within the ranges
permitted by ASTM C270.

2.2 Concrete Masonry Units

Concrete masonry units (CMU) cure and harden by cement
hydration. CMU include concrete brick and block as well as sand-
lime brick. Cast stone and manufactured stone are also cementitious
products, but they are not typically referred to as CMU. Cast stone
and manufactured stone are discussed separately later in this
chapter.

2.2.1 Types of CMU

Of the cementitious masonry products marketed in the United
States, concrete block is the most familiar and by far the most
widely used. Aggregates determine the weight of the block and
affect different properties of the units (see Fig. 2-12). Lightweight
aggregates reduce the weight by as much as 20 to 40% with little
sacrifice in strength. Specifications for aggregates are covered in
ASTM C33, Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates, and
ASTM C331, Standard Specification for Lightweight Aggregates for
Concrete Masonry Units. There are three CMU weight classifications
based on density of the concrete:
• Normal weight, 125 lb/cu ft or more
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN